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Drug-dealing grandmother of Big Brother star Josie Gibson



The drug-dealing grandmother of Big Brother star Josie Gibson who went on the run after being convicted of possessing cocaine has finally been caught after 12 years at large.

Fugitive Diane Gibson, 72, fled in 2000 after being caught 3kg of the drug worth £240,000.

Detectives feared the woman - dubbed 'Britain's most wanted grandmother' - may have changed her appearance and fled to Spain.


But police officers found her on Tuesday at her daughter's home near Yate, Bristol, and arrested the pensioner after a 12-and-a-half year fight to evade justice.

She appeared at Bristol Crown Court later the same day along with a number of family members, including reality star Josie, who attended to support her.

She was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to supply in 2000 but went on the run before she was sentenced.


The elderly fugitive, who now has mobility issues, is thought to have spent the majority of the past decade living in the north.

Nicholas O'Brien, prosecuting, said Gibson was convicted in June 2000 at Bristol Crown Court before Judge Lester Boothman.

He said: 'She was put back for sentence and for a Proceeds of Crime Application (POCA) to be considered. She refused to comply with the POCA.


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'The court adjourned sentence to the October and she failed to attend and has been absent ever since.

'She was found by police in the house of a family member in Yate. The house has been sold, though completion is yet to be reached.






Big Brother star: Josie Gibson won the reality television show in 2010 while her grandmother Diane was still on the run after being caught in possession of £240,000 worth of cocaine

'Consideration is being made as to whether anyone will be prosecuted for assisting an offender.'

Gibson was initially arrested in 1999. Police officers were watching a Little Chef in Kent when they saw her and a man in a Ford Mondeo behaving suspiciously in the car park.

They tailed the Mondeo as it headed towards Bristol on the M25 before pulling it over on the M4 near Swindon.


Big Brother star: Josie Gibson was in court yesterday as her grandmother appeared before a judge

She told officers she was carrying a number of rare books, but a search of the boot revealed a handbag containing 3kg of cocaine.

The man in the car was acquitted of wrongdoing, but a gang of conspirators were convicted and served jail terms ranging from 18 months to five years.

Police launched a high-profile hunt to find Gibson and she was described by Detective Constable Paul Kerrod as 'an evil woman who was determined to bring cocaine into this country and distribute it'.

The officer said in 2003 they would never give up the hunt for her: 'We won't give up - and I don't care if she's 65 or 75, because we will get her,' he said.


Giles Nelson, defending Gibson this week, said his client had not accepted her conviction and wanted to appeal it.

He said at the time she was distraught, having lost a second daughter in quick concession.

Mr Nelson added: 'She has been in the north of England, having returned recently to Yate.

'She is in poor health, has obvious mobility issues, a kidney and haemorrhaging problem.'

Judge Longman remanded the pensioner in custody until May 9.

Gibson told the judge: 'I don't even know those people,' referring to members of the convicted drugs gang.

Her granddaughter Josie, who won Big Brother 11 in 2010, said: 'I can't say anything about it.'

In 2010 relatives told a national newspaper Josie rarely saw her grandmother while growing up.

Diane's daughter Kay Gibson - the aunt Josie lived with in Westerleigh, said: 'Josie was too young to remember when it happened.

'I imagine she will have mentioned it to Big Brother. But we haven't discussed it. The whole thing tore the family apart, but over time we've learned to deal with it. We never talk about it now.'

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